Vlad The Impaler Controversy

One day, Vlad Dracula decided to cleanse his Kingdom of those he considered to be lazy and unproductive, those who suffered from

Bram Stoker's Dracula is highly acclaimed and has received many different interpretations which deal with complex symbolisms and metaphors. These interpretations often require a great deal of knowledge in psychology, political science, anthropology, and other non-literary disciplines. These interpretations may be valid, as they are related to the disciplines on which their arguments are based, but the true power of the novel is due to a very simple theme that lies beneath the other, more convoluted interpretations. This theme is the universal concept of identity: us versus them. This criticism sets aside outside disciplines and focuses on the literary motif of identity. John

"Doing Justice to the complex character of Dracula was one our main goals. He's been portrayed as a monster or as a seducer, but knowing his biography made me think of him as a fallen angel, as Satan...

Dracula is a proud of his lineage. His blood is noble among gypies (criminals) but when placed in comparison to the elite of England, he is considered primitive, “…Dracula's criminality dominates over his noble blood: 'science' assimilates him to a lower type, associating him with animals and 'inferior' human groups” (McWhir 34).

The intent of this assignment is to discuss and identify how Dracula in Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, symbolises what embodies and threatens male power. This will be achieved by intently studying the Count’s character and his actions in order to identify Dracula either as a symbol of male power, or a threat. The points that will be discussed concern Dracula’s lineage and nobility as an embodiment of his male power and his control over women. On the other hand, the concept of the Count as a symbolism of what threatens male power will also be considered. Dracula’s foreign roots and traditions will be discussed; also the assumptions of the Count being homosexual and his transformation of women will be deliberated in order to conclude whether the Count is an embodiment of male power or a threat.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a story of horror, suspense, and repulsion. The main antagonist, Count Dracula, is depicted as an evil, repulsive creature that ends and perverts life to keep himself alive and youthful. To most onlookers that may be the case, but most people fail to see one crucial element to this character. Dracula is a character that, though it may be long gone, was once human, and thus has many human emotions and motives still within him. Let us delve into these emotions of a historically based monster.

In the today’s world Vlad the Impaler or Vlad lll is viewed as a terrible and cruel person. The only thing most people know about him is that he was who Bram Stoker based his infamous character Count Dracula off of. Although history makes Vlad lll out to be a tyrannus ruler, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula fictionalized him as an evil vampire; His leadership and military strategy prove that he was a just and fair leader.

Vlad is remembered best for his vicious actions but there are some differences in the way people view him. There are several stories, which some sources take more serious than others, that list some of the horrendous acts that Vlad committed. In one, a boyar complained of the stench of the impaled so Vlad had him impaled on a stake higher than all the others so he would be above the stench (Wilde). It is also

In everyday life, as in literature, there will always be an opposing force to evil. In the novel “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker, Professor Van Helsing acts as Dracula’s main antagonist. An antagonist is the character who acts against the main character, which increases the conflict of the story and intensifies the plot. Through the use of theme, characterization and specific events, the author shows readers how Dr. Van Helsing effectively fits the role of Dracula’s most threatening adversary.

Dracula: Productive Fear The ‘anxieties of empire’ depicted within Bram Stoker’s Dracula have gathered immense criticism and attention from enthusiasts and scholars. The publication of Stoker’s novel in 1897 was in a period experiencing heightened nationalism together with imperial decadence. Friedrich Kittler claims that Jonathan Harker, the English solicitor visiting Count Dracula, was an imperial spy (Kittler, 60). Patrick Brantlinger fruitfully identifies the novel as ‘a piece of imperial Gothicism’.

A creature of disturbing wickedness, Dracula is not fulfilled by merely controlling the body of humans, but he also yearns for the domination over the soul of mortal beings. This calls to mind the image of a distinctly anti-Christian vision. The first image of Dracula reinforces the idea that he is not a simple villain but a complex one. As Jonathon Harker ventures to meet Dracula, he witnesses Dracula’s control and mastery of beasts: “How he came there, I know not, but I heard his voice raised in a tone of imperious command, and looking towards the sound, saw him stand in the roadway. As he swept his long arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves fell back and back further still” (pg.11). While we are to believe that Christ gained his power over the environment and its inhabitants through His divinity, we are left to ponder where Dracula may have accumulated his power. While Jesus chose to use his power for good, Dracula’s accumulated power acts as a dark mirror being used for evil.

When the man answered in the affirmative Dracula...pointed out her husband's short caftan as evidence of her laziness and dishonesty and ordered her impaled” (Potter). His reinforcement undermine the credibility of his subjects by creating the notation that they do not know the best for themselves. His senseless murder of the wife was a sacrifice Vlad was willing to make to uphold the virtues of hardworking and honesty in his nation. By involving himself in the affairs of his subjects, he engraves his presence in the lives of the people and become a looming reminder of what is the correct way of living. However, although the punishment was horrific, “among ordinary subjects he seemed to gain approval, as of this time the myth of Vlad Draculea as a national hero began to emerge” (Peri).

Vlad was born in a noble family of Vlad Dracul II. Dracul meant the dragon order to defend Christian Europe. When they killed his father, he fought with his opponents to recuparar the seat of his father as the Sultan of voivadato of Wallachia. In 1448 won, but he was removed after two months, but fought for 8 years to get it. During his period in power was cruel and ruthless with his enemies. Their methods were to fit stakes his enemies and left them in the ground until to

Interpreting through character development and common themes found in the Stoker’s, Dracula, suggests the monster Count Dracula is a projection of the repressed desires of man, while the “living” alludes to the traditional Victorian values deemed acceptable to society, or already known and familiar. Dracula’s central premise revolves around the battle between living and the dead, and the preconceived notion it is neither good nor evil that drives the

Discuss possible answers to this question with reference to at least two critical or theoretical essays and at least two tellings ' of the Dracula story._______________________________________________